Dangerous Debt

I've written before about our exploding national debt. But all the trillions and billions can be hard to comprehend. It's why this image from a chain e-mail has gone viral:

It is almost all accurate, except it gives Congress too much credit. Yes, politicians said they cut $38 billion last year. But the latest budget tables from the White House's Office of Management and Budget reveal that The federal government actually spent $362 billion more in 2011 than in 2010. (And it's not just because of the growth of Medicare and Social Security. Even what bureaucrats call "non-defense discretionary spending" increased by $5 billion.)

Also, the e-mail is outdated: the debt is now up to $15,190,000,000,0000. It's like a family that has $151,900 in debt.